A Few of Our Favorite Things: April

Happy spring! We’ve already talked actual booze for this season, but let’s talk facial cocktails and other skincare tips! Plus, what to listen to and watch. April is YOUR month. Go and grab it.

Source Vital Apothecary custom cocktail. Everyone’s face is different — so shouldn’t our skincare? For just $34.95 you can design your own for your own skincare needs. From hydrating and blemish control to soothing and toning — there’s something for everyone. It works in three steps:

Pick a serum base. Jasmine for normal to dry skin, Neroli for normal and acne prone, and rose for normal to sensitive skin.

Brenda Grands Jewelry. I feel in love with Brenda Grands designs after seeing her work at Launch HTX at Avenida de las Americas for the Super Bowl. Since then, I’ve maintained a fairly distanced girl crush on her designs and loved playing with them at our March Blogger Photography Workshop. After seeing their beauty in person, I couldn’t not buy some from this Houston designer and I’m now the proud owner of her white stone Texas necklace, which is one of the best selling items from her Etsy store. -A

COSMEDIX Face Masks.COSMEDIX skin care line just rolled out a new bunch of masks and are encouraging people to get “multi-masking” (gotta, love that marketing). I tried out their new line and do think my face feels fresh and restored! Here are my favorites. Plus! If you use the code MASKMINGLE
on the COSMEDIX website you will receive a free antioxidant toning mist. -A

GLOW: Bamboo Brightening Mask. This was essentially a scrub that you leave on your face. It’s a white cream with little beads (presumably bamboo) that you massage into your face. I loved it with all my winter travel my skin is super dry so the exfoliation was nice. I definitely used it in the morning before I went to work, but the bottle says “PM” on it — yolo. My face feels fine. One might even say I’m glowing. 😉

DETOX: Activated Charcoal Mask. This mask no only cleanses your skin of impurities, but you can also double as an extra in the Blue Man Group. I massaged the periwinkle goop onto my face, and it gradually dried over the next 15 minutes while I waited for the magical cleansing to occur. I feel like it smelled fairly fruity, but given that it’s main ingredient is charcoal idk how that’s possible. Again I used this “PM” mask in the morning, but have no regrets because my face feels radiant and ready to take on the day!!

How I Built This Podcast.Whenever I travel abroad I stock up on lots of podcasts to listen too when I work out because it’s near impossible to stream music outside the US due to regional copyright restrictions. One of my favorites is NPR’s How I Built This series that interviews entrepreneurs turned billionaires like the woman behind the billion dollar company Spanx or the founder of Southwest Airlines. The most recent episode features local Texas #girlboss Kendra Scott. She talks about her humble start in Austin, opening up her first store during the recession and handing out her business cards with her signature on them whenever she saw people wearing her jewelry! The same practice has evolved and all Kendra Scott employees have now carry cards that say “Caught you in your Kendra” to give away with discounts! To listen to the episode and get some major inspiration, click here. #TryPod -A

Abstract: The Art of Design. Thanks Netflix for introducing me to this documentary series that looks into the life and creative process of people in the art field. The first episode follows illustrator Christopher Nieumann as he designs a VR cover for The New Yorker. The second is with Tinker Hatter the man who saved Nike’s shoe line and worked on projects like the infamous Air Jordan collection and Back the Future self-lacing shoes. I’m currently watching an episode with Es Devlin who designs sets for everything from small black box theaters to Beyoncé and Kayne grand tours. If you’re looking for your next series to binge watch, look no further! I’m obsessed!– A